Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Completes Second Sepang Test‏

Sepang, Malaysia- The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team has wrapped up the second official test of the 2015 season today at the Sepang International circuit in Malaysia. Riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi have spent the three days of riding working through a number of testing elements, an update to the gearbox and some intensive work on their YZR-M1 set ups.

Today's last day of testing was the toughest for the riders as they focused on a time attack in the morning before starting a full race distance simulation in the afternoon in the hotter temperatures.

Lorenzo scored his fastest lap of the day in the morning with a 1'59.437 to slot into second on the timing sheets, 0.322s from first, a position he held until the end of the day. The time is his fastest of both this and the previous Sepang test. Finally the heat proved too extreme for him to be comfortable and it was decided to wrap up for the day having not completed the race simulation.

Rossi's fastest time from the cooler morning session was a 1'59.833, putting him in fifth place, 0.718s from the top, where he stayed to the end of the day's riding. Like his teammate Lorenzo, Rossi also suffered in the afternoon session and was unable to find a set up that worked well enough to complete the race simulation.

The team will now return to Europe whilst the engineers return to Japan to process the data and take another step forward in the direction of the 2015 YZR-M1. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP will regroup in Qatar for the final pre-season test and opening race of the season at the end of March.

Jorge Lorenzo: 2nd / 1'59.437 / 73 laps

"Well today I got the best lap time in Sepang ever for me, two tenths faster than the first test. The track was in worse condition than before so the bike has improved quite a bit. Also we made a lot of laps in the 2'00 time. At 3:30pm we tried a race simulation in the highest temperature I've ever ridden here in Sepang; it was really difficult to keep a good lap time and pace, the bike felt not so good with so much temperature. I decided to stop as I wasn't feeling confident in braking. Everyone did a simulation at this time of day so I think they all had problems also. In general I think it's been a very positive test and our engineers have collected enough information and data to make further improvements for the next test in Qatar and especially for the first race of the season, at the end of March. I look forward to getting on board my M1 in two weeks while in the meantime I will keep on working and training hard, as usual, for the best possible start of the season."

Valentino Rossi: 5th / 1'59.833 / 59 laps

"At the end it has been a positive test. I'm not very happy about my position and my lap time as I wasn't able to make a good lap, I always had traffic and didn't have the right moment to push. I think I could have been faster and in the top three. We continued to work with the gearbox and settings and we worked with the used tyres, where we still have to improve with the new bike. Now it will be very interesting to understand our level in another track as the balance between manufacturers can change there. I'm very curious about Qatar and how competitive we are for the first race."

Kouji Tsuya - 2015 Yamaha YZR-M1 Project Leader

"We have finished this second test at Sepang in a successfully way. Here in Malaysia we have tested especially an updated gearbox both with Valentino and Jorge and we've got good results and very good feedback from both riders, similar that we expected. We have worked well during these three days of testing and we have successfully completed our test plan without any issues. Obviously there are things yet to improve but I think it was a great beginning. I would like to thank both riders for the great efforts they put on track testing new components. We could get good feedback and data, enabling us to make further improvements in the near future so now we just have to keep on working very hard by full power and be ready at the next test in Qatar. We want to win the opening race also at Losail, to cheers from all Yamaha fans all over the world!"

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

"During the morning everything went well and lap times were good. When we started the race simulation in the afternoon the circuit conditions were much hotter and the bike behaved completely differently. As a result we were unable to find a pace we were happy with. The engineers will now take the data away from these three days and work to find a solution for the hotter temperatures for our next time on track. Overall we are satisfied with the majority of our testing, the riders have worked extremely hard as have all the team members. We are confident we will be fighting fit and ready in Qatar."

Smith concludes Sepang 2 in top form

Bradley Smith completed the final day of testing at the Sepang International circuit with a confident and notable run to 6th in the combined standings, as he made his MotoGP rivals clear of his intentions for the 2015 season. The British rider had been meticulously testing the 2015 specification Yamaha YZR-M1 across the three days in Malaysia as he made the necessary changes to the setup in preparation for the all important season opener in Qatar at the end of March. After making the setup adjustments, Smith launched into a hot run today and clocked a best time of 1'59.883 on his 9th lap, expertly dipping below the exclusive 2-minute bracket. This time was a cut of almost a second and a half from his opening performance on Monday and even more impressively, he was only two tenths back from third position in what was a superb and high flying close to the test, after completing 41 laps on the final day.

Meanwhile Pol Espargaro rounded off the Sepang 2 test by finishing in 11th position in the standings after a determined effort on the final day, despite a crash in the morning which disrupted his plans. However, the young Spaniard posted a best time of 2'00.490 on his 13th lap, as he undertook a total of 37 in the searing heat of Malaysia. This result was an improvement of four tenths of second from day one and the young Spaniard powered onwards to post 126 laps across the three days. The 2013 Moto2 world champion now looks optimistically towards the next test in Qatar on the 14th-16th of March for the final test outing before the 18 race MotoGP season gets into full swing.

Bradley Smith: 6th / 1'59.883 / Laps : 41

"It was a good final day for me, especially to finish in the top 6. The team and I had more or less completed all of our test plans yesterday, but there were a few small things we needed to try today with the electronics and the clutch. So we tested three different ideas, with two of them being definitely an improvement. It's these little changes that can make a different in the race. I am pleased to say that I did a 1'59 lap time, which was my objective for this test and it's positive that I could achieve this. The bike now has a very good base setup, so next we will go to Qatar which is a completely different track and see if we can use the base setup we made here, at Losail. All in all, it was a good test. We're close to being the top satellite bike but Cal is a bit faster, however our pace has been competitive and I am happy with the job the team and I have done here."

Pol Espargaro: 11th / 2'00.490 / Laps : 37

"Today was a bit of a tricky day for me. The feeling I had when I first went out on track was good and I was sure of having a positive day. I had just put on a new tyre to go for a fast lap time, but I was disrupted by a slow rider on track. I had to pass him with a quite risky move and unfortunately I ended up crashing. This was at the worst possible time because it was when the track was perfect in terms of temperature. Because bike 1 needed repairing, I went out on the second bike, but any chance of improving didn't come easily for me and I had to stop shortly after because the track was so hot that the conditions were difficult to ride on. Once things had cooled down, we had some technical issues that slowed us again and after everything, there was only half an hour right at the end of the day where I could ride again. Having said that, after falling in the morning, I did not want to push too hard and end up worse, so we limited ourselves to ensuring that everything was working properly again without pushing. It's a big shame that we weren't able to finish our test schedule as we had planned. Anyway, next up is Qatar and we are equipped with lots of information and ideas for improvements after 5 days in Sepang, plus I am eager to roll on to another circuit, although there is still one more day of testing here, where we will test the 2016 Michelin tyres."

Bradl and Baz end the three-day test at Sepang

After the second pre-season test at Sepang, Stefan Bradl ended up in the Top15 while Loris Baz was 24th in the standings for the Forward Racing team.

Bradl struggled at the start of the session due to lack of rear grip, nevertheless he posted an encouraging 2.00.685 despite a fall in the morning. This performance earned him the 15th position overall. It was not easy to find a good feeling for the German, but considering the strong pace showed on the long run the impression is still positive for the next event in Qatar.

Overall it was a more difficult three-days test for his teammate Loris Baz who suffered the change of the track conditions from the first event at Sepang. The Frenchman posted a best lap of 2.02.426 closing the test in 24th position.

Stefan Bradl: 15th / 2'0.685 / Laps : 45

"I can't say I'm happy with this test at all. I struggled with the track conditions that changed a lot from the beginning of February and I did not completely managed to find the right grip. I was expecting something better on my flying lap, but I'm confident because in the long run our pace is good and the feeling also is. Despite the fall this morning, I managed to improve my lap-time and this is positive for us. We are working in the right direction and I am sure we will do better in Qatar in two weeks "

Loris Baz: 24th / 2'2.587 / Laps : 47

"After the first test in Sepang the feeling was really positive. Unfortunately after the break the weather condition did change a lot and this made the test more difficult. Despite this I did a lot of work with the team, we tried new solutions and collected much information in order to find a good setting. I can´t wait to get back on track in Qatar."